NCAA Basketball: Buy or Sell preseason top 25 teams of 2021-22 after a month
4. Villanova Wildcats
As soon as both Collin Gillespie and Jermaine Samuels announced that they were coming back for a 5th year, Villanova cemented themselves as a preseason top 10 team, with the voters going as high as No. 4. But they didn’t return everybody, as Co-Big East Player of the Year Jeremiah Robinson-Earl did go pro, leaving a void in the frontcourt.
And you can argue that’s what the Wildcats were missing in the losses to Purdue, UCLA, and Baylor, all of whom were away from home. When Gillespie wasn’t able to create, the Wildcats really struggled to get their offense going, which could be a theme against better defensive teams in the Big East.
Another issue has been the lack of depth. For the most part, Villanova only plays seven guys maximum, with six scoring in the game. Gillespie (16.4 ppg) leads the way, along with junior guard Justin Moore (15.6 ppg) taking the next step as a scorer. Brandon Slater has become one of the best defenders in the country, while Eric Dixon has represented the only frontcourt play on the team.
The hope for the Wildcats is that they get healthy, including Bryan Antoine potentially coming back in league play. The previously-retired Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree has come back in the past couple of weeks and could give this team 10 minutes a game down the stretch. But right now, this is a 6-man unit that relies on shooting to win games. And if that doesn’t happen, they’re vulnerable.
Had Villanova been ranked around 10-20, I could “buy” them as a Final Four contender because head coach Jay Wright can win four straight games in March with these veterans. But as a preseason top 4 team, I have to judge them as a national title contender. And without true frontcourt play to lift any potential shooting issue, I can see a number of teams beating this squad.